Twenty-two visitors, made up primarily of state legislators from Hessen, Germany, made a stop at Moraine Park Technical College as part of their visit to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on Sunday, Aug. 26.

The group, who also visited the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge and Fond du Lac's Lakeside Park, were be guided by Dr. Rodney Pasch, Moraine Park's vice president - Human Resources, Information Technology and Facilities.

Pasch was a member of the Wisconsin Technical College System delegation who traveled to Hessen this past May. During that visit Pasch shared information about the College's new 50,000 square-foot Cyber Center. "The information I shared with them at that time about our Cyber Center piqued their interest," said Pasch. "So when they were making a visit to Wisconsin, Moraine Park was one of the places they wanted to be sure and tour."

The state of Hessen and the state of Wisconsin have been in partnership for 20 years, and that partnership has progressed under both the Thompson and the McCallum administration. The group was interested in social issues dealing with welfare reform and had an opportunity to talk with some of Wisconsin's state legislatures about W-2 issues while at Moraine Park. Moraine Park was the only technical college the group visited.

Pasch says the visit was as an opportunity for Moraine Park to promote student and staff exchanges with Germany as well as a chance to continue Moraine Park's mission to train the workforce in a global economy. The visit also ties in with the mission of the Wisconsin Technical College System, which is to build international relationships.

In addition to their visit to Moraine Park, the German delegates were meeting with leaders of Wisconsin's State Assembly and Senate, as well as discussing social issues and services with representatives from the UW-System